


What's Left When the War's Over

by ThePinkTeenager



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Asexual Keith (Voltron), Bunkers, Cell Phones, Crushes, Dating, Destruction, F/M, Keith and Shiro are separated, Memories, Post-War, Sassy Pidge | Katie Holt, Scavengers/Scavenging, Smart Pidge | Katie Holt, dumb teens, expired fruitcake is not food, grocery store raid, kind of, why is that not a tag?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-25 15:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30091455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePinkTeenager/pseuds/ThePinkTeenager
Summary: World War III caused destruction on a scale previously unknown to humanity. 18-year-old Keith is living in the aftermath of said destruction. He lives in a bunker with eleven other survivors, but he knows there are many more. One of the eleven is a teenage girl named Katie. She spends her days coding and fixing things with her brother. Life is hard, but they make the best of every day.Then Keith and Katie realize that they're in love.
Relationships: Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith/Pidge | Katie Holt, Matt Holt & Pidge | Katie Holt
Kudos: 11
Collections: Prompt Memes: Prompt Memes October 2020 to...





	1. Scavengers

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by [Yemi Hikari (Yemi_Hikari)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yemi_Hikari/pseuds/Yemi%20Hikari) in the [prompt_meme_002_yemi](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/prompt_meme_002_yemi) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> The society is a post apocalyptic world, but more specifically while crossovers with post apocalyptic worlds are allowed, no stories where this is already the case.
> 
> Tag: **Post-Apocalyptic** or **Alternative Universe - Post-Apocalyptic**

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith goes outside the bunker to help Katie scavenge. He likes her.

Keith hated living in a bunker. Not that anyone he knew actually _liked_ it, but he took a particular dislike to bunker life. 

He was lucky that this area hadn’t been near a major city when the war started. As such, it hadn’t actually been hit by a nuclear bomb. That meant they could at least go outside for short periods of time. Many of them didn’t like going outside because it reminded them of just how wrecked the country was. 

Oh right, “them”. Keith was not alone in the bunker. He was with two families and a teenager named Hunk. Hunk was trying to find his family. Keith didn’t have a family to find. The closest thing he had was his foster brother Shiro, who was currently trapped in Central Asia. Keith didn’t know if or when they’d meet again. 

The other two families weren’t bad, really. One consisted of a military engineer named Sam Holt and his children Matt and Katie. There used to be a mother, but she died during the war. The other family had once been large, but lost several members. Now it was down to an older couple, three children, and two grandchildren whose parents were dead. That added up to twelve people in the bunker. 

Keith heard a knock on the door. “Come in.” he said. 

It was Katie. “Hey Keith,” she said, “I’m going outside to scavenge. Wanna come with me?” 

“Sure.” said Keith, trying to hide his excitement. 

Katie told him what parts she needed. Most of it was for some sort of engineering project or repairs. He knew most of the basic mechanical parts by now, and Katie could look for the more obscure stuff herself. 

“Oh, and Hunk says we’re out of ketchup.” 

Keith rolled his eyes. “Where are we going to find ketchup?” he asked. 

Katie shrugged. “Grocery store?” she asked. 

These days, going to the grocery store meant raiding it instead of buying things. There were traders, but they were only intermittently available due to the radiation issue. The bunker also had a garden, but the tomatoes weren’t ripe yet. 

“Grocery store it is.” said Keith. “Let’s get moving.” 

The two teenagers put on their gear and left the bunker. Outside, it was as desolate and war-torn as ever, but at least the sun was out. They had to shield their eyes against its brightness. 

Keith tried to ignore Katie and focus on the task at hand. That was easier said than done. He thought he had a crush on Katie, but he wasn’t sure. What he felt was strong, but it wasn’t like the crushes Hunk and Lance had described. Then again, the world had basically ended; who gave a damn about whether Keith had a crush or not? 

“Why are you still here?” asked Katie. 

Keith was confused. “It’s been less than an hour.” he said. 

“Not that.” said Katie. “I mean, why are you still _here_? You can go wherever you want.” 

“I wanna be here.” said Keith. 

Katie shrugged. “Suit yourself.” she said. “But since you’re 20 feet away from me, I might as well tell you about my latest project.” 

Keith nodded. “Go ahead.” 

Katie launched into a long explanation of something technical that Keith didn’t really understand. That was fine; Keith liked the sound of her voice. He kept scavenging.

* * *

Eventually, the two of them went to the nearest grocery store. Much of it had already been raided, but there were still several bottles of ketchup left. Keith grabbed two of them. He looked over at Katie, who was holding ramen and peanut butter. 

“You gonna eat those together?” he asked. 

“May-be.” said Katie playfully. Keith wouldn’t be surprised; they’d all eaten weird things by this point. At least these were both actual food items instead of cockroaches and expired fruitcakes. 

“I got the ketchup.” he said. 

“Good.” said Katie. “Let’s head back.” 

The two teenagers walked through the ruins of what had once been a town. Keith could still identify many of the buildings they passed. 

“You know,” said Katie, “sometimes it amazes me that there are still so many people out there.” 

“How many died in the war?” asked Keith. 

“The official death count was one billion.” 

Wow. They didn’t call it World War III for nothing. It had started nearly a decade ago when China and the United States both wanted control of the Pacific Ocean. The US had technically won, but it didn’t really matter. Both countries and their allies were wrecked, and the ocean was too riddled with explosives to sail a ship through. 

“That’s a lot of people.” said Keith. 

“Yeah.” said Katie. “But there were over eight billion on the planet when the war started. That means seven billion are still alive somewhere.” 

Man, Katie was smart. That was something Keith admired about her. 

“They’re not here.” he said. “We don’t see anyone except traders and an occasional scavenger.” 

“Not all the way out here.” said Katie. “There are several thousand in the Garrison bunker, but that’s thirty miles southwest.” 

“Why aren’t you there, anyway?” asked Keith. “Your dad worked for them.” 

“They told him to prepare bunkers in the area in case refugees showed up.” she said. “He really liked this one, so we moved in.” 

Keith had ended up in the bunker after his foster parents died. His biological parents were long gone and Shiro was still fighting at the time, so he didn’t have anywhere else to go. The others let him live there despite his less-than-agreeable personality. Even though he regularly fought with Lance, he hadn’t been kicked out yet. It wasn’t like he and Lance actually hated each other- they just fought over stupid stuff. Some of his foster siblings had done the same thing before he was placed with the Shiroganes. 

For some reason, Keith really wanted to touch Katie right now. To just put his stuff down and wrap his arm around hers or ruffle his hair. Even if they weren’t carrying things, he wouldn’t have done that. He knew full well that he wasn't supposed to touch people unless he needed to. And yet... Katie was so freaking _adorable_. He wanted to cuddle her the minute they got home and could put their stuff down. But Katie wouldn't want that, and besides, it was very out of character for Keith. Lance and his nieces were very affectionate. Keith, on the other hand, was a loner. 

Maybe the radiation was messing with his head. That didn't make sense- Matt specifically said multiple times that the brain was one of the most radiation-resistant organs in the human body(and yet, it was still prone to concussions). He'd get a bunch of other symptoms well before his mental faculties were altered. Maybe he'd been exposed to some chemical... nope, that wouldn't work either. He was pretty sure he didn't have a rare disease, either. That left only one possible explanation. 

He had a crush on Katie. 


	2. Life Before the Bombs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katie finds an old phone with snapshots of life before the war changed everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Lance greeted them as they walked in. “Welcome back!” he said. 

“We were gone for like, two hours.” said Keith. 

“That’s a really long time!” protested Lance. “A lot could happen in two hours, especially on the surface.” 

“In case you haven’t noticed,” said Katie, “not much happens on the surface. Sure, every once in a while there’s rain or people or animals, but other than that- nothing.” 

“But if there’s rain or people or animals-” 

“There weren’t.” said Keith. 

“We got food.” said Katie. 

“I didn’t know we were running out of food.” said Lance. 

“We weren’t,” said Katie, “but Hunk said we were out of ketchup. Since I was scavenging for parts anyway, I went out and got it.” 

"Oh, man," said Lance, "it's just like when we were little and we had to tell Mami and Papi when we were out of things." 

Katie knew what he meant. They all tried to preserve some sense of normalcy. And Lance was right- there was something strangely normal about going to the store because you were out of some condiment. The difference was that she hadn't actually gone shopping... or paid for the ketchup. 

Keith had disappeared- he was probably putting things away. Katie went to her workroom and unloaded all her finds. This was one of her more plentiful trips. She had wire, bits of metal, an intact lightbulb, a broken thumb drive, and even a phone. The phone was probably nonfunctional at this point, but Katie could reconfigure it. She'd also found gloves, a dirty T-shirt, and a rusty can opener. The shirt would go to one of the boys and the can opener to the kitchen, but she'd keep the gloves. 

Katie found her brother doing laundry. "Hey Matt," she said, "I found a phone." 

Matt looked at her. "Where?" he asked. 

"Outside while scavenging. Also a lightbulb, wire, and a can opener. We even went to the grocery store and got some food." 

"Who were you with?" asked Matt. 

"Keith." 

"Huh," said Matt, "I never considered asking Keith to be my scavenging partner." 

"He's pretty good at it." said Katie. "And he's cute." 

She should not have said that. Matt smirked a tiny bit and started singing, " _She's in lo-o-o-ove! She's in lo-o-o-ove!_ "

"Matt, cut it out!" said Katie. "I'm not in love." 

Thankfully, Matt stopped singing. "So, Katie," he said, "about that phone..." 

* * *

It turned out that while the phone's hardware was badly damaged, the computer chips inside were largely untouched. Katie took them out and connected them to her computer. "Let's see what's on this thing." she said. 

"Katie, we can't just- oh, who am I kidding, the world's ended. We totally _can_ hack into somebody's phone." said Matt. 

Katie smiled. Then she realized she couldn't access any of the phone's data because it was still locked. "Matt," she asked, "can you unlock this?" 

"Of course." Matt said. He had some program that unlocked the phone, allowing them to access the data. Once he ran the program, the files started coming in. 

They were sorted into several categories: system files, messages, photos and videos, and various apps. "Hey," said Katie, "we can play Candy Crush!" 

Matt laughed. 

Katie was more interested in looking through the photos. She didn't know any of the people in them, but many had familiar objects or places. Hot coffee here, a dog there... this was life before the war. Toward the end, she saw screenshots of war-related news. The last one was two years old. She didn't know whether the phone's owner had died or simply gotten another phone. Either way, the phone was theirs now. 

She could actually learn a lot about the phone's past. Evidently it had been owned by a woman with two young children. Katie looked at a picture of the kids that was taken the year the war started. One of them was only a toddler. Katie heard Matt sniffling behind her. 

"Are you crying?" she asked. 

"No." he lied. "Maybe." 

Katie shrugged. "It's fine if you are." she said. "Let's look through the contacts." 

There were a bunch of names in the contacts. Katie didn't know any of them except for a pizza place. Still, she could guess who these people were and what relation they had to this woman. 

"Hey look," she said, "one of them is named 'My Love'."

"Look through the messages for that one." said Matt. 

They did. "It's a spouse or partner." said Katie. 

"A spouse who- oh, Jesus!" Matt covered Katie's eyes. 

Katie took his hand off. "What was that for?" she asked. 

"Let's just say that it has been confirmed that this partner is a man." said Matt. 

Katie decided not to question that. She was going to read through all the other messages. 

After an hour, the siblings had reconstructed a detailed picture of this woman's life. They found the names of her friends, family members, and pets, where she worked, what she ate, what she did in her free time, and several of her personal problems. Katie felt like she knew this woman, even though they'd never met. 

They would most likely never meet. It was very possible that this woman was dead.

* * *

Katie had been six years old when her country declared war on China. Or maybe China declared war on the US. She wasn't sure which had happened first. Frankly, it didn't matter who declared war first- just that somebody did. 

For the first couple years, they fought solely in the Pacific Ocean. That was really bad for the Hawai'ians, so many of them fled to California. The various countries bordering the Pacific allied themselves with either the US or China. If Katie remembered correctly, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand allied with the US, while North Korea and a couple southeast Asian countries allied with China. Little did they know what they were getting themselves into. 

In the late 20th century, America and Russia engaged in a decades-long conflict. It was named "the Cold War" because it was fought without actual warfare. The war between America and China was different. Rather than becoming another Cold War, it turned hot. 

The California coast became a war zone, so people moved inland. Anti-Chinese racism became widespread- Katie could only imagine what the Chinese thought of Americans. Matt said Australia and Indonesia started fighting over some island. Countries in central Asia and Europe started sending aid to countries in the battle. 

Then somebody brought out the nuclear weapons. 

Katie still remembered the look of dread on her father's face when he heard that a missile had hit San Francisco. Why San Francisco, Katie had no idea. She didn't even know what a nuclear missile was until her father reluctantly explained it to her. Katie couldn't blame him for being reluctant; it was something no fourth grader should know. 

On that day, life as she knew it changed forever. 


	3. Dating in a Bunker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith goes to Lance for dating advice. Then he puts Lance's advice to use.

Ever since he was little, Keith had been a loner. Not having a permanent home or family meant he never really got the chance to learn social skills. The Shirogane couple taught him some stuff before they died, but it wasn't a lot. Mostly, he'd had to learn by watching other kids or simply by trial and error. 

None of that taught him what to do about crushes. 

Keith did, however, know one person who was an expert on the subject: Lance. Admittedly, the two boys didn't always see eye to eye, but it was the best idea Keith had. Anyway, living in a bunker with so many people meant arguments were bound to happen eventually. 

Keith knocked on Lance's door. "Hey Lance?" he said. "You available?" 

"Why?" asked Lance. 

"I need your advice." 

"For what? Girl stuff?" Lance scoffed. "There's no way someone like you would want a girlfriend. Heck, are you even into girls?" 

Keith took a deep breath. "I need dating advice." he said. "And um... I am into girls." 

He still wasn't sure about that, but if he had a crush on Katie Holt, then logically he must be into girls. The only complication was that Keith was pretty sure that meant wanting to have sex with a girl, which he had no desire to do. But he didn't want to have sex with a guy, either, so clearly he wasn't gay. Why was life so darn confusing? 

After a few moments, Lance opened the door. "So," he said, clearly trying to hide his excitement, "wanna get yourself a girlfriend?" His voice was almost goofy. 

"That's why I'm here." said Keith. 

Lance gestured him into the room. "First, who's the girl?" he asked. 

Keith swallowed. "Katie." he said. 

"The techie?" 

"That's the only Katie we know." 

Lance considered this. "Well, she's a little young, but dating's not completely off the table." 

This led to a discussion of girls, complete with random stories Lance somehow knew. Keith had no idea how Lance managed to get a girlfriend after a nuclear war, but apparently he had. He also had some helpful tips. 

"Thanks." said Keith when they were done. 

"You're welcome." 

* * *

Since their living situation wasn't ideal for dates, Keith decided on an alternative. He would eat lunch with her every day until or unless she told him to stop. Keith wasn't much of a talker, so he usually ate in silence. The exception was when Katie talked to him. Like, for example, right now. 

"So Keith," she said, "why do you always eat with me?" 

"Do you not want me to?" he asked. 

"Oh no, I don't mind." she said. "It's just... I was wondering if there was any particular reason for it." 

Keith blushed. "I'm kind of... into you." he said. 

Katie stared in his direction for a minute. "Well," she said awkwardly, "I'm kind of into you." she said. 

Keith was not expecting that. "You are?" he asked. 

Katie nodded awkwardly. "I mean, I know we're not together or anything, but-" 

"We could be." 

"Keith," said Katie, "Are you sure? I'm only fifteen, and with the state of the world right now, I don't know if that's a good idea." 

Keith shrugged. "We have the bunker." he said. "That's not going away." 

"True." said Katie. "My dad'll probably be fine with it- he let Matt date when he was my age. As for you..." 

"I'm on my own." said Keith. He hoped Katie knew what he meant. 

Katie fidgeted. "So," she said, "what do you say? To date or not to date?" 

"I'd say date." said Keith. 

"Me too." said Katie. "So um, how about Friday at 7?" 

"Sure." said Keith. It wasn't like he had other engagements. "Where?" 

Katie furrowed her brows. "The cafeteria?" she asked. 

Keith shrugged. "I guess that works." he said. 

"We have a plan, then." said Katie. "See you on Friday night." 

Keith nodded. "See you on Friday." 

* * *

Keith was pretty nervous. So was Katie, but she acted like she knew how to handle it. This was certainly a first date for both of them; that combined with their feelings for each other(or at least, Keith's feelings for Katie) meant it was bound to be a little awkward. 

The thing was that Keith liked it. When he was younger, he hated the idea of dating- talking to people he didn't know well just wasn't his thing. But with Katie, it was different. With Katie, he could relax, smile at her stories, and even crack jokes. She laughed at his jokes. She had the sweetest laugh. 

So after that date was over, they did it again. And again and again. 

Several weeks after their first date, Keith heard a knock on his door. "Keith?" said Katie. 

Keith smiled. "Come in." he said. 

Katie opened the door and walked into the room. "Hey Keith." she said. 

"Hey Katie." he said. 

"How are things going?" she asked. 

"Good." said Keith. "How about you?" 

"Good." she said. "I had to replace a wire earlier. Darn rats chewed it up." 

The rats were kind of a chronic problem. Several people had suggested getting a cat, but nobody knew where to get one. Which was a shame; Keith liked cats. 

"We should eat them or something." said Keith. 

"I've suggested that to Hunk multiple times." said Katie. "He's pretty against it. Which is weird, seeing as we've literally eaten cockroaches." 

"He didn't," said Keith, "Matt and I did because we lost a bet." 

Keith remembered that episode. Months earlier, Matt had found some hot peppers while scavenging and had unwisely given them to Lance. Lance and Keith then decided to see who could snort the ground peppers without sneezing or crying. Whoever lost had to eat roasted cockroaches. Keith lost, and since Matt had bet that he would win, they both had to eat cockroaches. Then Katie saw them and asked for whatever they were eating. The girl was adventurous; Keith gave her credit for that. 

"Those were good." she said. "Crunchy." 

"Try eating them with a runny nose." said Keith. 

Katie laughed. "You were hilarious!" she said. 

At least she thought he was hilarious rather than stupid. 

Katie moved closer to him. Keith imagined himself getting up and embracing her, closing the space between them completely. He imagined running his fingers through her hair and stroking her neck. 

He needed to stop imagining that. He was Keith; he didn't touch people. 

Katie kept talking, oblivious to Keith's unspoken desires. She knew way too much about the stupid stunts he pulled off. He wondered if Matt told her about them, but Matt wasn't even involved in some of the events she mentioned. Keith tried to retaliate by thinking of a stupid thing _she'd_ done, but... he couldn't. Katie was never stupid. 

That was something Keith liked about her. 

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know a lot about asexual relationships(or romance in general, honestly), so feel free to leave helpful feedback.


End file.
